List of Intangible Cultural Heritage elements in Spain
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The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) intangible cultural heritage elements are the non-physical traditions and practices performed by a people. As part of a country's cultural heritage, they include celebrations, festivals, performances, oral traditions, music, and the making of handicrafts.[1] The "intangible cultural heritage" is defined by the Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, drafted in 2003[2] and took effect in 2006.[3] Inscription of new heritage elements on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists for their protection and safeguard is determined by the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, an organisation established by the convention.[4]
Spain signed the convention on 3 November 2003, ratified it on 6 October 2006, and it came into force in the country on 25 January 2007.[5] Spain registered its first two elements on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008. As of 2023, it had registered twenty-one elements in the Representative List –of which eight are shared with other countries–, and four in the Register of Good Safeguarding Practices –of which one is shared with another country–.
On 28 May 2015, the national law for the safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage came into force in Spain, in which the Spanish government can declare an element "Representative Manifestation of Intangible Cultural Heritage" (MRPCI) for its protection and safeguard at the national level, which makes it enter in the "General Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage" managed by the Ministry of Culture. It is the responsibility of the General State Administration, in collaboration with all other public administrations, to guarantee the conservation of the Spanish intangible heritage, as well as to promote its enrichment and to encourage and protect the access of all citizens to its different manifestations.[6] As of 2023, three elements inscribed in the National General Inventory have subsequently been submitted to UNESCO, which inscribed them in its list for their protection and safeguard at the international level.